About Croatia - National Park Paklenica

  Paklenica National Park is a distinct National Park due to its location and features, it was declared the second National Park in Croatia on the 19th of October 1949.

National Park Paklenica consists of the highest peaks of the Velebit Mountains (Vaganski Vrh at approximately 1757 meters and Sveto Brdo at approximately 1753 meters), the total size of the park encompasses a total of 96 square KM.

The National Park and the Velebit Mountains play an important part as the backdrop to some of Croatia’s most picturesque towns and cities on the Adriatic.

National Park Paklenica consists of canyons and rivers, both the canyons and creeks are called Large and Small Paklenica (Velika Paklenica and Mala Paklenica), Large Paklenica Canyon is approximately 14 KM long, whilst Mala Paklenica canyon is 12 KM, both of these canyons get deeper and deeper over time as the river help to erode the limestone walls o the mountain.
 

The park has a total of 70 explored caves, the only one that is open to the pubic is Manita Peć.

The park has an abundance of flora and fauna some of which are unique to the park and the mountain, there are over 800 species of flora and a huge variety of fauna.

There are 12 types of snakes in the park, some of the snakes include the Balkan whip snake, leopard snake, aesculapian snake, nose-horned viper and the Orsini’s viper, there are 97 species of birds, some the birds include the rock nuthatch, blue rock thrush and the Griffon vulture, there is also a large variety of mammals in the park some of which include the Roe deer, red deer, chamois, wild boar, brown bear , wolfs and lynx.

If you are a lover of nature and National Park Paklenica is the place for you as you can see from the variety of wild life available to the park.

The park is not just wild life and nature, for those of you who love history, the park has villages which have been inhabited sine the prehistoric times, Starigrad-Paklenica is just one example.

If you are a keen hiker or mountain climber, Paklenica has it all on offer,

For the hiker there are more than 150KM of hiking tracks available, the most visited is the track that leads through the Velika Paklenica Canyon up to the Paklenica Mountain Hut, this hike is suitable also for amateurs as it will take approximately 2 hours to complete.

Paklenica National Park has some of Europe’s best climbing areas and is the most frequented by Croatian climbers, one of the attractions of this area is due to its location and proximity to the coast.

Climbers are required to purchase entrance and climbing passes at the reception, pricing is very reasonable:

• 3 day passes - 60 kuna
• 5 day passes - 90 kuna

Climbers Please Note:

• Climbing is permitted only within the designated climbing area
• Climbers are requested to register at the park entrance
• It is forbidden to alter any of the existing climbing courses
• Climb at your own risk
• In the event that search and rescue is required the cost will be incurred by the climber

Entrance price into the park is reasonable at 30 Kuna for Adults, and 20 Kuna for children above 6 and pensioners, children under 6 can enter the park for free.